Jake Dennis: “I’ll just enjoy the race tomorrow and have no pressure”

Jake Dennis is very much in contention for the 2020-21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship title after a fifth-place finish in the first race of the Berlin E-Prix on Saturday afternoon.

The BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver lost a couple of places at the start but was always involved in the battle for the big points, with the Briton only missing out on a podium by less than half a second.

Dennis does not believe he had the pace to take the podium in the closing laps, even when he ended up so close behind the battle for third between Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Norman Nato.

“My aim before the race was to finish fifth but then we had a really bad start and lost some positions,” said Dennis.  “After that we came back strong and the car behaved very well.

“At the end we didn’t quite have the pace anymore to fight for the podium to be honest.”

Dennis will go into Sunday’s second race around the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit only four points adrift of Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Nyck de Vries at the top of the championship, and whether he wins or loses, he can go into the off-season with his head held high and with a new contract in his pocket.

“Being a rookie entering the final race of the season just four points behind the leader sounds really good,” said the Briton.  “To be fair it’s just incredible. I’m so proud of what we have done here at BMW i Andretti Motorsport.

“I’ll just enjoy the race tomorrow and have no pressure. If I fail, we still had an amazing season together. If I do good, I might win the championship. I’m excited.”